A Swedish teenage boy who sent naked pictures of his ex-girlfriend to his friends has had his conviction overturned upon appeal.

“It’s disgraceful that someone can do this without being punished. That he’s been freed sends the signal to her and other young girls that society doesn’t care about them,” the mother of the 15-year-old girl featured in the pictures told the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper following the ruling.

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In overturning the conviction, however, the Svea Court of Appeal wrote that there is no general prohibition against spreading pictures of someone without their consent, no matter how invasive it may be to someone’s privacy.

To qualify as sexual harassment, an act requires “reckless behaviour” characterized by a “noticeable violation of personal freedom”, according to the court.

This, in turn, requires that the victim is aware of the act when it occurs, the court continued.

The pictures were taken with the girl’s consent, only to be used later in an offensive way.